タイトル
A Study on the Phone Hacking Scandal in the UK
(1)
著者
HAN, Young-hak
引用
北海学園大学法学研究, 55(1): 222-222
発行日
2019-06-30
A Study on the Phone Hacking Scandal in the UK (1)
Young-hak HAN
The purpose of this study is to comprehensively examine the phone hacking scandal in the UK press. After I outlined the scandal, I examined the background of the scandal and criticized the responses of NC or the authorities.
In July 2011 a large-scale phone hacking scandal were exposed in the UK, which have shocked the world as well as the country. It became clear that Britain s tabloids including the News of the World (NoW) had been writing news stories for more than a decade, with confidential personal information of thousands of people acquired through illegal information gathering, such as phone hacking, bragging, pinning, and money payment. The illegal information gathering is mainly concen-trated in News International (NI) tabloids, NoW usually committed the phone hacking and The Sun mostly paid public officials including police officers for information. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the scandal is the corporate crime of NI and parent of NI, News Corporation (NC), a media empire led by Rupert Murdoch. London Metropolitan Police estimated that the numbers of phone hacking victims are more than 5,000 people. Ordinary citizens as well as public figures in many different fields including royal family, parliament, cabinet, entertainment and sports had been the hacking targeted by tabloids.
These evil behaviours of tabloids breach various laws such as Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Data Protection Act 2018, but also violate the media ethics. Although the suspicion of tabloids phone hacking had been often raised until 2011, the police did not conduct a full-fledged probe into evidences, and the press regulator Press Complaints Commission (PCC) also did not take appropriate measures. Eventually, a series of phone hacking cases, which had been wrapped in a veil for many years, were revealed by indomitable investigative reporting of Nick Davies, The Guardian journalist.
Summary 北研 55 (1・222) 222 The Hokkai-Gakuen Law Journal Vol. LV No. 1
